A
terrorist incident occurred yesterday, Wednesday, 22 March, on
Westminster Bridge where a man drove a car into members of the
public and then Parliament. He continued his attack armed with a
knife to try and enter the Parliamentary estate;

Four people have died, including one police officer, PC Keith
Palmer, and a man identified as the suspect. More than 30 people are
injured including three police officers on their way back from a
commendations ceremony;

There is no specific intelligence of a further threat – we believe
the attacker acted alone and was inspired by international
terrorism;

We
are not yet releasing the suspect’s name at the moment and encourage
the media to refrain from speculation about this. This will be
released in due course when operationally appropriate;

Police are carrying out an investigation focussing on the suspects
motivation, preparation and associates – we have made further
arrests in London and across the UK as part of this;

People will see more police officers on duty - armed and unarmed -
and a mix of British Transport Police and the City of London in the
coming days;

The police stand with all communities to fight the fear that
terrorists wish to create - later today a meeting of faith leaders
will be held here at New Scotland Yard.

We have declared this a terrorist incident and the Counter Terrorism
Command are carrying out a full scale investigation into the events
yesterday, Wednesday, 22 March.

The attack started when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge -
hitting and injuring a number of members of the public also including
three police officers who were on their way back from a commendation
ceremony. The car then crashed near to Parliament and at least one man -
armed with a knife - continued the attack trying to enter the
Parliamentary estate. Four people have died and approximately 30 people
have been injured and are being treated in hospital. The deaths included
PC Keith Palmer who was protecting Parliament, and two members of the
public - a woman aged in her mid 40’s and a man aged in his mid 50’s.
Amongst the injured are three police officers on their way back from a
commendations ceremony.

The fourth man was the terrorist who was shot dead by armed police at
the scene. At this stage, we are not naming him but his identity will be
released in due course. We are asking the media not to speculate and
publish his name whilst we are still conducting searches and we would
ask partners not to do the same.

Hundreds of detectives have been working through the night and during
that time I can confirm we have searched six addresses - and made seven
arrests. The inquiries in Birmingham, London and other parts of the
country continue. It is still our belief that this attacker acted alone
yesterday and was inspired by international terrorism. At this stage, we
have no specific information about further threats to the public.
Clearly our investigation is ongoing - developing all the time - and is
focused on his motivation, his preparation and associates.

As people are out and about on the streets of the Capital this morning
they will see more police officers on duty - armed and unarmed - and a
mix of British Transport Police and the City of London. We have
cancelled some leave and increased some duty hours and are working to
make sure that we can out in force to reassure the public.

We must not allow terrorists to create discord, distrust and fear. Our
strength as a city is our ability to stand together at such terrible
times. We know many people will be feeling shocked, vulnerable and
worried about what has happened.

We are reaching out and engaging with all communities across London to
help reassure them and encouraging people to contact us if they have any
information about this incident or other incidents of concern. But also
to tell the police about any adverse response from this incident such as
the perpetration of hate crime.

The police stand with all communities - later today a meeting of faith
leaders will be held here at New Scotland Yard.

If you see anything that causes you concern or raises your suspicions do
not hesitate to call us - 0800 789 321
- or in an emergency 999.

We urge the public
and businesses to be alert but not alarmed and report anything
suspicious to the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
In an emergency always call 999.”

For daily updates and information about what is happening in Brent, you
can follow us on Twitter at @MPSBrentEmail:
mapesbury.snt@met.police.uk